Ballinran Entertainment to help produce documentary on Paul Shaffer

From Godspell to Saturday Night Live and decades beside David Letterman, musician Paul Shaffer's storied career will be explored in a newly announced documentary project.

Ballinran Entertainment will join two other production companies in presenting a documentary on the life of Canadian music legend Paul Shaffer after securing a deal earlier this month.

Joining Ballinran on the project are Grace Street Media and White Pine Productions, all of whom signed on with UTA Independent Film Group to help sell the film once completed.

Craig Thompson, owner of Ballinran and an executive producer on the Shaffer documentary, said that he’s always been on the lookout for stories with depth and complexity and believes this is going to be one of those tales people can’t wait to hear.

“Paul has been approached many times about doing documentaries but he really wanted it told from a Canadian perspective while not making his life to be the front of the story,” Thompson said. “He wants to be a guide through music, history and how it shaped his life and how it’s shaped society and culture. He’s the ultimate sidekick; his job throughout his whole career has been to make others look good, whether it's been Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Sly Stone, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen … and he’s been the comic foil to David Letterman, so how whole career has always been one step out of the spotlight.”

The film will chronicle Shaffer’s rise from Thunder Bay to the world stage, highlighting his start in Godspell, the years he spent with the original Satruday Night Live Band and then 30 years alongside Letterman. For someone who’s been in the glow of the brightest lights but never the focus, Thompson feels that Shaffer’s story demonstrates the power he has held over the breadth of his career.

“He wields a lot of power and influence and there’s a lot of respect and gratitude towards him and how he’s helped other people, but I’ve heard it said that in terms of playing the piano, he’s in the same league as Elton John,” Thompson said. “He’s had a front-row seat to music history, so he’s an expert on how music has shaped society and generations from the 60s to present day.”

Thompson added that Shaffer’s story is a parallel tale: his own journey and his reflections on how music has changed society.

“He believes that in the times we now live in, with the very divisive and conflicted world, music is something that unites us, and it’s a feel-good thing that we saw in the John Candy documentary at TIFF,” he said. “People love hidden stories and hearing stories about other people’s life’s journey so far – Paul went to the University of Toronto to study philosophy and he was going to be an academic, but he also loved music. He played in bands in high school, loved piano and came from a family that appreciated music. He fell in with the right people in Toronto, who saw his talent and his life took a whole different direction.”

The rights signing was made between Shaffer, Vern Freelander of Grace Street Media, Peter Raymont of White Pine Pictures, Thompson (Ballinran) and Stephen Paniccia.

By Matt Harris for www.stratfordtoday.ca.

Photo: Paul Shaffer. © 2013 Greg Allen.